Book Review: Nikki and Deja: Substitute Trouble

Nikki and Deja: Substitute Trouble by Karen English
Publisher: Clarion Books
Release Date: July 9, 2013
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Publisher’s Description:

Deja is dismayed to learn that her teacher has had an accident and a substitute will be taking her place. Under the new sub’s care, nothing is the same in Room Ten. A few of the class troublemakers plot to take advantage of the clueless teacher, and soon other students join in. Should Nikki and Deja go along with the rest of the kids in tormenting him? Should they help him out by tattling on their classmates? Or is there another way to handle the situation?

There are several Nikki and Deja books in this series but each one can stand alone. I’ve previously reviewed Nikki and Deja: Wedding Drama. These books are intended for beginning readers, ages 6-9. Even though the two main characters are girls, my nine year old son enjoyed this book.

This book illustrates why it’s important to behave for a substitute teacher and follow the rules at school in general in a fun way. Nikki and Deja are good girls who follow the rules without being tattletales or goody-goodies. I appreciated how the girls figured out how things would be different if the first sub was more sure of himself.

I really like how this series features children of color without race being the central issue to the story. They add a nice bit of diversity to our home library.

(I received this book courtesy of Amazon Vine.)

For more reviews of books for children and teens, check out Booking Mama’s feature, Kid Konnection, posted on Saturdays. If you’d like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children’s books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, you can go to her site to leave a comment and your link .